The present invention relates to a coal hydrogenation process.
For decades, the Fischer-Tropsch process has been used for the complete synthesis of hydrocarbons. This method employs a synthesis gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen as the starting materials, and operates with relatively low pressures of up to about 10 bar and at relatively low temperatures of about 473.degree. K. The coal hydrogenation process according to Fischer-Tropsch is performed with a sufficient supply of energy according to the following reaction equation: EQU x(CO)+x(2H.sub.2).fwdarw.x(CH.sub.2)+x(H.sub.2 O)
In the known Fischer-Tropsch process, the synthesis gas must be as free as possible of sulfur compounds which would otherwise poison the required catalysts. In the past, such poisoning phenomena made coal hydrogenation processes questionable with respect to their yield or as a whole.
The energy crisis that has occurred in recent years and the continued increase in the price of crude oil has resulted in a worldwide search these past years for cost efficient coal hydrogenation processes or coal refining processes and this search is still continuing.